15 easy ways to lower your blood sugar in a natural way

15 easy ways to lower your blood sugar in a natural way

High blood sugar occurs when your body can not effectively transport blood sugar into your cells.

If nothing is done, it can lead to diabetes.

A 2012 study found that between 12% and 14% of American adults had type 2 diabetes, while 37% to 38% were prediabetic (1).

This means that 50% of US adults suffer from UU diabetes or prediabetes.

Here are 15 easy ways to naturally lower your blood sugar:

1. Exercise regularly

Regular exercise can help you lose weight and increase your insulin sensitivity.

Increased insulin sensitivity means your cells can make better use of the available sugar in the blood.

Exercise also helps muscles to use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction.

If you have problems with blood sugar control, you should check your rate regularly. This will teach you how to respond to various activities and prevent your blood sugar from rising or falling too much (2).

Good forms of exercise are weightlifting, brisk walking, running, cycling, dancing, hiking, swimming, etc.

2. Control your carbohydrate intake

Your body breaks down carbohydrates into sugars (mainly glucose), then insulin transports the sugars into the cells.

If you consume too much carbohydrate or you have problems with insulin, this process will fail and your blood sugar level will rise.

However, you can do different things against it.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends controlling carbohydrate intake by counting carbohydrates or using a food system (3).

Some studies have shown that these methods can also help plan your meals properly, which can further improve your glycemic control (4, 5).

Numerous studies have also shown that a low carbohydrate diet helps lower blood sugar levels and prevent blood sugar spikes (6, 7, 8, 9).

In addition, a low carbohydrate diet can help control blood sugar levels over the long term (10).

In this article, you can read more about healthy low carb diets with diabetes.

BACKGROUND LINE:

Carbohydrates break down into glucose, which raises blood sugar levels. Lowering carbohydrate intake can help control blood sugar levels.

3. Increase your fiber intake

The fibers slow down the digestion of carbohydrates and the absorption of sugar. For these reasons, it promotes a more gradual increase in blood sugar.

In addition, the type of fibers used can play an important role.

There are two types of fibers: insoluble and soluble. Although both are important, soluble fiber has been shown to reduce blood glucose levels (11, 12, 13).

In addition, a high-fiber diet can help control type 1 diabetes by improving glycemic control and lowering low blood sugar levels (13, 14).

High fiber foods include vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

men. That's about 14 grams per 1,000 calories (15).

4. Drink water and stay hydrated

If you drink enough water, you can keep your blood sugar in a healthy area.

In addition to preventing dehydration, it helps the kidneys eliminate excess blood sugar in the urine.

An observational study showed that those who drank more water had a lower risk of developing high blood sugar (16).

Drinking water regularly rehydrates the blood, lowers the blood sugar level and lowers the risk of diabetes (16, 17, 18, 19).

Remember that water and other non-calorific drinks are the best. Sugary drinks increase blood sugar, increase weight and increase the risk of diabetes (20, 21).

5. Implement the portion control

As a result, you control the weight of the developing type of diabetes (22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28).

Control of serving size reduces caloric intake and blood sugar spikes (23, 24).

Here are some helpful tips for controlling portions:

Measure and weigh portions.

Use smaller plates.

Avoid restaurants with everything you can eat.

Read the food labels and check the portion sizes.

Keep a food diary.

Eat slowly

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The more you control the size of the portions, the better you control your blood sugar.

 
6. Choose foods with low glycemic index

The glycemic index was developed to evaluate the body's glycemic response to carbohydrate-containing foods (29).

The amount and type of carbohydrate determine the number of blood glucose levels (30, 31).

Low glycemic index foods have been shown to reduce long-term glucose in type 1 and 2 diabetics (32, 33).

Although the glycemic index of foods is important, the amount of carbohydrates consumed is also important (34, 35).

Low glycemic foods include seafood, meat, eggs, oats, barley, beans, lentils, legumes, sweet potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, and most fruits and non-starchy vegetables.

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It is important to choose low glycemic foods and to monitor the total intake of carbohydrates.

7. Control stress levels

Stress can affect your blood sugar (36, 37).

Hormones like glucagon and cortisol are eliminated during stress. These hormones increase blood sugar (38, 39).

One study found that exercise and relaxation reduced the blood sugar of students (40).

Therefore, exercises and relaxation methods such as yoga and mindfulness stress reduction can be used to correct insulin secretion problems in chronic diabetes (40, 41, 42, 43, 44). ).

BACKGROUND LINE:

Control the stress through exercises or relaxation methods like yoga to control your blood sugar.

8. Check your blood sugar

"What is measured is managed."

By measuring and monitoring your blood sugar, you can better control it.

For example: "What should you do?" (31)

He wants to help you figure out how your body reacts to certain foods (45, 46).

Try to measure your levels every day and record the numbers in a record.

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By checking your sugar daily and taking pictures, you can adjust your sugar level.

9. Get enough sleep quality

Getting enough sleep is good and necessary for your health (47).

Bad sleep and insulin sensitivity.

Lack of sleep reduces hormone secretion and increases cortisol levels. Both play an important role in glycemic control (47, 50, 51).

Sleep well is also a question of quantity and quality. It is best to get a good night's sleep every night (49).

BACKGROUND LINE:

Sleep well helps maintain blood sugar levels and promote healthy weight. Bad sleep can alter important metabolic hormones.

10. Eat foods rich in chromium and magnesium

As a result, hyperglycemia and diabetes have been linked to micronutrient deficiencies (31, 52).

Examples include mineral deficiencies of chromium and magnesium.

Chromium is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats. It also helps prevent carbohydrate intolerance (53, 54, 55).

However, the mechanisms are not completely known. Studies report mixed results.

Chromium had long-term glycemic control benefits. However, another study showed no benefit (55, 56, 57).

Chrome rich foods include egg yolks, whole grains, high-quality grains, coffee, nuts, green beans, broccoli and meat.

As a result, magnesium has been associated with increased diabetes risk (31, 58, 59).

In one study, the risk of developing diabetes was reduced by 47% in patients with high magnesium intake (60).

However, if you are already consuming many magnesium-rich foods, you probably will not receive supplements (61).

11. Try the apple cider vinegar

Apple cider vinegar has many health benefits.

It promotes the reduction of fasting blood sugar levels, possibly by reducing liver production or increasing cell utilization (62, 63, 64).

Studies also show that vinegar significantly affects the body's response to sugar and improves insulin sensitivity (63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69).

To incorporate apple cider vinegar into your diet, you can add it to salad dressings or mix 2 teaspoons into 8 ounces of water.

However, it is important to consult your doctor before taking apple cider vinegar if you are already taking medicines that lower the blood sugar level.

BACKGROUND LINE:

Adding apple cider vinegar to your diet can help your body in many ways, even lowering blood sugar levels.

12. Experience with cinnamon extract

It is well known that cinnamon has many health benefits.

On the one hand, it has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity by decreasing insulin resistance at the cellular level (70, 71).

Studies show that cinnamon can also lower blood sugar levels by 29% (72, 73, 74).

It reduces the breakdown of carbohydrates in the digestive tract, which reduces blood sugar rise after a meal (75, 76).

Cinnamon also works like insulin, albeit at a slower rate (77).

An effective dose is 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon per day or about 0.5 to 2 teaspoons (78).

But do not take more than that, because too much cinnamon can be harmful. If you want to give it a try, Amazon has a good selection.

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Cinnamon has been shown to decrease fasting glucose and improve insulin sensitivity.

13. Try Berberine

Berberine is the active ingredient in a Chinese herb that has been used to treat diabetes for millennia.

Berberine has been shown to help lower blood sugar levels and improve the breakdown of carbohydrates into energy (79, 80, 81).

In addition, berberine may be just as effective as some other medicines to lower blood sugar levels. This makes it one of the most effective supplements for people with diabetes or prediabetes (79, 82).

However, many of the mechanisms behind these effects are still unknown (81, 83).

In addition, it can have side effects. Cases of diarrhea, constipation, flatulence and abdominal pain have been reported (84).

A typical dosage regimen for berberine is 1500 mg per day to be taken in 3 doses of 500 mg before meals.

Read more about this wonderful supplement here: Berberine: The most effective supplement in the world?

BACKGROUND LINE:

Berberine helps lower blood sugar and can help control diabetes. However, it can have side effects on digestion.

14. Eat fenugreek seeds

Fenugreek seeds are an excellent source of soluble fiber that can help control blood sugar levels.

Many studies have shown that fenugreek can actually lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. It also helps to reduce glucose during fasting and improve glucose tolerance (85, 86, 87, 88).

Although less popular, fenugreek can be easily added to baked goods to treat diabetes. You can also make fenugreek flour or make it in tea (89).

Fenugreek seeds are also considered one of the safest plants against diabetes (87, 88).

The recommended dose of fenugreek seeds is 2 to 5 grams per day. If you want to give it a try, Amazon has a lot of choices.

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Consider fenugreek seeds. They are easy to add to your diet and can help regulate blood sugar.

15. lose some weight

It is obvious that maintaining healthy weight improves your health and prevents future health problems.

Weight control also promotes healthy blood sugar and reduces the risk of diabetes.

Even a 7% reduction in body weight can reduce the risk of diabetes by up to 58%, and it still seems to work better than drugs (90).

In addition, these reduced risks can be maintained over the years (91, 92, 93).

You should also be aware of your waistline as this may be the most important weight factor to assess your diabetes risk.

A measurement of at least 88.9 cm (35 inches) in women and at least 101.6 cm (40 inches) in men is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and myocardial infarction from diabetes. Type 2 (94).